AAPD Featured in New York Times Story on Dental Sedation

Catherine Saint Louis with The New York Times interviewed AAPD Chief Policy Officer of the Pediatric Oral Health & Research Center, Dr. Paul Casamassimo (Ohio), Dr. Deborah Studen-Pavlovich (Penn.) and Dr. Jeannette MacLean (Ariz.) for a story on sedating children for dental work.

According to the story:

"Sedation is above and beyond routine dentistry," so the first thing parents should ask is whether it’s necessary, said Dr. Paul Casamassimo, the chief policy officer for the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry’s research center.

"The quality of dentists’ sedation training matters, because a dentist needs to be able to choose the right candidates and the appropriate drug and know how to rescue an oversedated child. Pediatric dentists train for an added two or three years to learn sedation. By contrast, a general dentist may have taken a weekend course in moderate sedation. "Classroom training is not enough," Dr. Studen-Pavlovich said.

"The bottom line is parents should be told the risks, benefits and alternatives, Dr. MacLean said. "If not, get a second opinion."